- Typically, when I say "Grids."
People look at me in terror
and run from the room because they think,
"Oh no this means we're totally going to be stuck
doing really boring design with no room for creativity."
That's not the point at all.
A grid is not a prison.
It's a diagram of guides that you control.
There are a few items that make up a well proportioned grid.
Let's start with the margin.
The margin separates the content from the edge of the page.
The size of the margin is your choice.
In a classical design, the margins follow a strict ratio
with generous space around the content.
In a modern layout,
the margins might be tighter and asymmetrical.
These are columns,
this is a guide to position all of your content vertically.
You can create one column, four columns or 20 columns.
It's entirely up to you, there's no limit.
Now of course, the more columns you have
the more complicated the grid's going to become.
You can put images and text in only one column
or across multiple columns to make a larger image.
Gutters provide space between the columns.
This helps the reader trying to read all the way
across from one column into the next column
and into the next column,
which would make a completely confused story.
You want the reader to understand
that he or she should read down the column
which makes it a far better reading experience.
Hanglines, help the reader understand
the real estate of a page.
They provide a guide to hang content
consistently, horizontally.
The reader knows where to look
and what to expect when certain kinds of contents
such as the body copy, headline and imagery
always hang from the same place horizontally,
and the captions hang from the top.
Markers are the elements that remain the same on every page.
There are items like running feet,
running heads and page numbers.
You don't want page numbers bouncing all around
because then it would be impossible
for the reader to find the page they're looking for.
Once you have these elements in place, the margins
the columns, the gutters, the hanglines and the markers,
you've built a good solid grid.
You can follow it as rigidly as you like
or as loosely as you like.
If the composition isn't working and feels wrong
change the grid, you made it you're its master.
It works best when the content relates
to each other proportionally
and the viewer can find the information clearly.
So, that's the challenge.
To breathe life into a very simple structure.